This invention relates to smoking articles, and more particularly to smoking articles offering the consumer a choice between selectable levels of strength.
The cigarette industry has evolved from a condition in which most popular cigarettes generally offered consumers the same level of strength to a position in which consumers may choose from a wide variety of products of different strength levels. Products now on the market range from relatively strong, unfiltered cigarettes to products having extremely low strength deliveries. Although an individual consumer usually chooses one product within this range, studies have demonstrated that consumers would prefer the ability to choose different strength levels under different circumstances. For example, a person may prefer a stronger product following a meal, but desire lighter strength levels for the remainder of the day. At present, the only means available for a consumer to exercise such preference is to purchase several packages of entirely different products. Obviously, that choice is cumbersome and economically disadvantageous.
The cigarette industry long has sought to satisfy this demand by offering a product allowing for adjustment of strength delivery. The only design permitting such a product to be made with normal manufacturing methods is that disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 436,217 to Leslie E. Payne, commonly co-assigned with the present application. References cited in that application point up the manufacturing problems inherent in the prior art.
Indeed, the very fact that no manufacturer has offered an adjustable-delivery product on a national scale eloquently testifies to the industry's failure to meet existing demand.
The present design offers an adjustable-delivery product manufacturable with minimum alteration to existing equipment. For the first time, the industry will be able to present consumers with the real possibility of an adjustable-delivery cigarette.